Valerie June

VALERIE JUNE with SUNNY WAR at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Sunday, February 11. Rating: NNNN

Sometimes it’s worth braving snow and ice to be part of something special, and that was the case at Valerie June's Queen Elizabeth Theatre concert on Sunday.

Striding onstage with her purse slung over her shoulder and a marvelous honky-tonk backing band (some with ZZ Top-worthy beards), the soft-spoken June greeted the audience with a near inaudible “Happy to see you again.” Bathed in magenta lights, the Tennessee singer/songwriter immediately dove in. For much of the night, she remained a woman of few words, letting her powerful pipes and gorgeous songs do the heavy lifting.

While known for her deeply distinctive voice and songs that draw from country, blues, gospel and Appalachian folk, she has a disarmingly wailing drawl and Tennessee twang in a live setting. Her whimsical, uninhibited delivery let her register morph between childlike innocence and world-weary wisdom, one roof-raising song after another. Drawing from her four-album body of work, June used her vocals as unpredictably as she used her various instruments – banjo, guitars, tambourine – snarling, growling, unveiling its rasp. When she sang without an instrument, she revealed an ethereal stage presence reminiscent of a bohemian Dolly Parton.

Some fans whistled and screamed “love you," but it was one of the rare Toronto shows where the audience put their cameras away and focused their attention solely on the artist. And rightfully so – it’s undeniable that June is an artist walking her own path.

Her Southern charm took full effect near the end of the 75-minute show. Returning for a four-song encore and multiple standing ovations, June spoke about the current state of life in the U.S., facing it with spirituality and her love of eating chocolate and popcorn in bed, before introducing her “sweet, sweet banjo baby,” who likes to sing songs to lovers, and “since it’s almost Valentine’s Day, she’s extra-sweet.” She let loose with Somebody To Love, Workin' Woman Blues and Got Soul, and the audience did the same.

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Sunny War’s venture into Canada as the opener for fellow Tennessean June was more eventful than she'd anticipated. “I almost didn’t get into to the country!” she wrote on her Facebook page after finishing her set in Montreal, blaming the interrogation from Canadian immigration officers on her gutter punk past. "Long story short... Had to pay $200 to get into Canada temporarily."

Her voice and guitar kept the crowd enthralled. Like her dichotomy-encapsulating stage name (better than her folk-punk band Anus Kings, which she has said was an ode to the Butthole Surfers), the Los Angeles-based street singer/songwriter's sad soulful lullabies juxtapose a stage presence that's goofy and endearing.

Her smoky voice and clinched-jaw delivery made her fascinating to watch and listen to. Between her mumbled way of speaking – somewhere between California slacker and precocious school girl – to the giggle bookending her sentences, War had us eating out of her hand.

“You’re so great,” yelled out a new fan. “What’s your name?” yelled another. After finally acknowledging the love she was getting, she smiled bashfully and surmised that her $200 customs fine to get into Canada ultimately turned out well. She is definitely one to watch.